The Fire Within (The Fire of The Soul Series)

by Racquel Kechagias

  I know that I have to get up, but I don't want to run into anyone today. In fact I don't even want to do anything today. I just want to sit beside the open glass, and listen to the rain fall as I sketch all day long, but it is clear my mother has other plans when she comes bursting into my room.

  "Anna, get up. We have the artist coming in today to take our portrait. You'll need to take one with Victor and Christian as well." She says before she goes over to my wardrobe as I climb out of bed. She pulls out a red dress with silver and ruby jewels and a pair of silver shoes.

  "Get changed into this and I want you downstairs in half an hour. One of the maids will fix your hair after you have eaten." She says before she leaves as quickly as she has come. I reluctantly pull on the clothes she has ordered me to put on, as well as the shoes and the jewellery. I check myself in the mirror before I make my way downstairs. Thinking how uncomfortable it will be when he will have permission to put his hands on me, but I also wonder how it will be if Victor will do the same. Will there be a noticeable difference between the two men? or will I just hate being in Christians arms and feel vulnerable in Victor's?

  When I enter into the throne room, I find that the artist is already painting my mother's and father's portrait, he is only in the beginning stages of the painting but I know by all of Alfredo's work that he will make it magnificent. Victor leans against the large windows that stand before the balcony, his eyes fixed on the view of the grey and foggy castle grounds and the ocean beyond it. Where as Christian sits in a chair on the other side of the room, having his faced shaved by a local barber as a bunch of maids sits around him. As soon as I enter the room I see Victor's back stiffen and when he turns his gaze on me I feel the full power of his gaze. For a moment I forget how to breathe as I stare with abandon at him. His eyes scream with a fury that I lose all connection to the outside world, his lips curve up into a twisted smile. Like the one he wears in my dreams. It is only until Meg calls my name that I snap out of it.

  "Anna," Meg says, finally getting my attention. I blink a few times to clear my head of the fog that has swarmed in when my eyes had landed on him. "This is Mary. She'll be doing your hair today," Meg says introducing Mary, whom does a little curtsy to me. Either Meg hasn't explained to Mary that I don't like it when people curtsy to me, or Mary just doesn't have it in her not to do what she has probably been trained to do. It is most likely the later. I follow Mary to the same side of the room that Christian is getting his face shaved. Mary guides me over to a chair and tells me to sit. She takes her time to wash out my hair. Christian is done with his shaving before she has even finished. She gets out the curling iron next, and starts curling my hair. It takes her almost two long hours to do my hair but she eventually manages to finish styling my freakishly long hair.

  "Your Highness we are done. However I must insist that you do not go outside and that you try not to get your hair messed up or I will have to do it all over again." She says sternly, well as sternly as she possibly can to me.

  "Alright Mary, I'll be careful," I reply as honestly as I can without bursting into giggles at the concerned look on her face.

  I turn around to find that my mother and father have finished and that now Alfredo is guiding Christian to stand beside the throne chair. Alfredo calls my name before I have the chance to look for Victor. Fortunately for me, I don't have to sit in Christian's lap for the two hours that it will take Alfredo to paint the picture of us. I am glad when Alfredo says that we can move, after staying in the same position for two hours it gives you a bit of a cramp.

  "Go stretch your Highness; I'll need you back in half an hour." Alfredo says to me. I grab an apple off of the snack platter that a servant has brought out; obviously under my parents - or Meg's - orders. My eyes look around the room for him but they cannot find what they are looking for.

  "Hello Anna," Victor says from behind me. He must have known that I have been looking for him, or he wouldn't have had approached me.

  "Hello Victor," I say my lips curling up into a small smile. I move to turn around, but his hand clamps roughly down on my shoulder. Why isn't he allowing me to move?

  He leans down close to my ear, so close that I can feel his breath on my skin, raising little goose bumps along my flesh "Guess again," He whispers kissing me on the neck. I should have known by the sound of his voice, or even by the way he has touched me, or even the fact that he has touched me at all, should have told me that it isn't Victor. Now I am stuck in Christian's arms, and he won't let me go. He keeps on kissing my neck, as if he enjoys the motion, to me it is just revolting.

  "Let go of me," I try to scream but he clamps his other hand down on my mouth.

  "Oh no you don't, we don't want any unwanted company." He says, when no one comes rushing to my help I realize that we are in the big throne room all by ourselves, with our picture staring at me from its drying spot.

  "What do you want?" I ask when he has removed his hand from my mouth. I can feel him smiling against my hair.

  "I want you to obey my every word. When I say jump you say how high, when I say sing you say what tune, get it?" He asks, but he doesn't wait for an answer before he continues "Or I will kill Victor while you watch and believe me, I will be able to." He says, still smiling in my ear. He knows that I won't allow Victor to be harmed. He knows that there is a connection between us, a connection that even I don't completely understand. He knows what my words are going to before I even know them. I have only one option.

  "I'll do whatever you want," I whisper, turning around so that I can meet his blue eyes. "But if you hurt him, I swear you will regret it," I say making my voice as menacing as I can.

  "Then we are at an agreement?" He asks, his smile is joyful as if he didn't really expect me to agree so easily.

  "Yes," I hiss in annoyance. His eyes burn with a fiery hunger, as his arms snake around my waist, I want to escape but I know that I cannot; I have agreed not to.

  "Then kiss me," He says. I kiss him on the lips but there is no passion behind it, no emotion at all in fact. He yanks my head back by my hair. "Like you mean it," he sneers before crashing my lips into his. He shoves his tongue into my mouth, violating me. He enjoys it, I can tell by his growing arousal that presses against my leg. "Good girl," He whispers into my ear before kissing my neck.

  "No," A voice whispers behind me, but that one word breaks my world into pieces. When I turn to meet Victor's eyes, I see more sorrow than I can bear. It is like he is drowning in his misery.

  "Yes," Christian hisses at Victor from beside my neck. I feel him kiss my neck again but I know that he keeps his eyes on Victor. I try to tell him I am sorry with my eyes but he won't meet them. I know that the next two hours will be painful; to be beside him, to have to look like he loves me and that I love him - though I don't know how much that would be of a lie on my part - as Alfredo paints our picture. I cannot believe that I have agreed to this but I have agreed to it for his sake, for him to be safe. However, now I am not so sure that what I have done is the right thing after all. I guess I will find out in time.

  Chapter 5 - Escape

  Anna's P.O.V

  Time passes slowly, as Victor and I have our portrait painted; I am sitting in his lap, his arms are wrapped around me but they feel dead, as if that connection between us is completely gone. I cannot stand it. When Alfredo says that we can go, Victor almost literally pushes me off his lap in his haste to get away from me. I do not dare to look in his eyes in fear of what I might find there. Does he hate me as much as it looks like he does? Or is he just hurt? I do not know. I run for my room, before Christian can find me wandering around the halls. When I get inside, I lock the door and throw myself onto the bed. I cry for hours and I finally settle into a light doze. I am rudely awakened as somebody knocks at my door. I hope as I make my way to open the door that it is Victor but to my surprise I find Meg, her eyes bloodshot and her cheeks wet from shed tears.

  "Meg what's wrong?" I ask but she pulls me from my room
and down the hall.

  "I don't have time to explain Anna but you're father, he's in the stables." Meg says her words choked from her tears and the short air in her lungs as we ran to the stables but she didn't need to say anymore, I know what she meant and whom was in danger; Simon.

  It doesn't take us very long to get down there but the more time passes the less time we have a chance of saving Simon.

  "Simon," I scream when we're not far from the stables. We are running as fast as we can go but I can hear Simon's tortured screams and I know that father has already started.

  "Meg, stay here. I don't want you to see this," I say, Meg's feelings for Simon present within my mind. I have always known it, ever since we were children, that Meg would one day fall for Simon and the other way around. She nods her head in understanding, her love for Simon evident in her eyes.

  I go into the stable and see that Simon is tied up on a chair, his shirt removed and his chest and face cut and bloody. My father stands before him, a knife in one hand a whip in the other.

  "You think you could be sweet on my daughter and get away with it? I know what you've done and you won’t be able to touch her or see her again." My father sneers. Simon's eyes are no longer on my father, no they are on me now and there is a broken and somewhat toothless smile spreading out on his face.

  "Only problem is your Majesty, your precious daughter has graced us with her presence." Simon says, spiting out a mouthful of blood.

  "What?" My father sneers, turning around to spot me standing with them.

  "Come to see your lover die?" My father asks me, knife still in his hands.

  "I love Simon like a brother, father. Whatever you've heard, it is not true. Please spare Simon father," I say trying to keep my calm about me.

  Don't lie to me girl. Victor told me of what he saw happen between Simon and yourself. What reason would he have to lie to me?" Father says, viciously turning back to Simon.

  "Anna, tell Meg. Tell her every word I've told you in the past. Please as my dying wish, let her know" Simon says, tears spilling from his eyes.

  "Of course," I whisper and he smiles one last time. It is broken, and the teeth he has remaining in his head are bloodstained. My father puts down the knife and the whip and pulls his sleeves up one at a time. Walking over to Simon he puts his hands on his neck and with one swift motion, he quickly snaps his neck. The life in Simon, the beautiful, vibrant life vanishes in a split second, and before I can look at Simon's dead face, I turn away from the stables and the sight before me.

  "Oh and Anna, you will marry either Christian or Victor. I don't want to see you messing around with other people, especially servants again," My Father spits, and I nod my head in understanding. I have to make a choice soon, in case my father decides to kill another to get the message across.

  I find Meg waiting outside. She is crying and I know that she heard everything that went on inside. "Meg, I'm so sorry." I say and she throws her arms around me as she sobs brokenly over her dead love. "He asked me to tell you something Meg. I know he never had the chance to tell you himself, he never had the courage to say it, he was afraid that you would call his words a bluff. Simon loved you, with all of his heart and I think that if he had the courage to open up to you he would have known that you felt the same." I say softly and she nods her head in understanding as she pulls her head away from my shoulder.

  "I know he did, the way he acted around me or the things he would say sometimes. Anna, I need a few moments to myself. I will speak to you later." She says and she gets up and walks inside. I wait on the steps until my father comes out, his hands are dirty and I realize that he must have buried Simon to get rid of the evidence. I give him a loathing look and he smiles as he waves to me. I get up and go inside walking away from my father, who had just done the unthinkable.

  When dinner comes around that night everything seems as if nothing had happened at all. My mother and father eat in silence, and stay out of Victor, Christian's and my conversation if it were willing to become more than a silence battle. Christian asks me the usual questions but my answers are less than responsive. I cannot get past the death of my friend and although I am not completely disrupted because of his death it doesn't mean that I do not grieve for Simon.

  "Victor, I would like to speak to you alone," I say, as I rise from the table, I can feel his hesitance and after a few moments I can hear his footsteps following out after me. I make my way to the balcony, where we shared our second memory. He wraps his arms around me, and I let him, feeling how cold he is and sighing. At least now we can be cold together.

  "I'm sorry," He says, kissing the top of my head.

  "I know," I say pulling away from him so I can look him in the eyes but he won't let me move. It worries me, and with enough force on my part, he lets me pull away. I can see it in his eyes, the shame and anger and it strikes me as strange, as I have never seen these emotions in him before. "Just tell me one thing Victor. Why?" I ask, sitting down on one of the benches near the stone railing itself.

  "I was mad at you, for letting Christian kiss you and I kind of bumped into your father on the way back to my room. I told him that you needed to be punished for playing games with Christian and I. I didn't know what he would do," Victor says, raking his hands through his raven hair, I hate the fact that I watch him, curious as to his behaviour, his actions. I hate that I am fascinated by everything he does, and I loathe myself for it.

  "He killed Simon, Victor. He killed one of my closest friends," I whisper brokenly, and then before I know it, tears are falling down my cheeks.

  "I'm so sorry Anna. I didn't know that he was capable of doing such a thing. Can you forgive me?" He asks, he finally meets my eyes after a few minutes of silence. Can I forgive him? It isn't like he has done the act himself, but he had planted the idea of punishment into my father's head. He didn't know what my father thought punishment meant. He couldn't have possibly known, that my father would willingly kill someone, and enjoy it but could I forgive him?

  "I don't know if I can," I whisper brokenly. "I wanted to tell you why I let Christian kiss me. He threatened me, actually he threatened you. He said that he would kill you if I didn't do exactly what he said. I did it to protect you," I whisper, looking into his eyes. I can see the surprise in them. He wasn't expecting that explanation, and then I see pure hatred roll into his eyes. He walks quickly across the balcony, and to a wall of the castle. I hear a loud smash, followed by another and another as he bashes his head against the wall. When he lifts his head to smash it into the wall again I see that in one spot on the wall there is a dent, the stone cracked into pieces. I put myself between Victor and the wall. That is when I can see the blood trickling down the left side of his face, flowing freely from a gash upon his forehead.

  "Are you insane? You're going to kill yourself doing that!" I screech, partly in shock, partly because I am horrified by the idea.

  "That's kind of the point Anna," He says with a grim smirk. His eyes are looking at me, but I don't know if he is actually seeing me.

  "Please Victor for my sake; I don't want to be alone," I say, trying to get through to him. I reach up and cup his head in my hands and then I kiss him. A soft light press of my lips to his, but he responds instantly. His arms wrap around my lower back, and he kisses me until I have to pull away for breath.

  "Victor?" I ask cautiously, scared that he is going to slip back into that scary split personality, but instead he puts his bleeding forehead against mine and then he stands very still. When his body starts shaking in my arms I realize that he is crying.

  "I'm so, so sorry Anna. I should have known that you would have never kissed him willingly." He says, kissing my forehead, where his blood has left a mark. His arms are so tightly wrapped around me that I can barely breathe but I don't care. I don't want this to end, not now, not ever and that's when it occurs to me that I have fallen for Victor.

  "Victor?" I say, my voice coming out hoarsely as if something is caught in my t
hroat and then the words leave my lips, "I choose you," I whisper so quietly that I don't think he heard me.

  He moves away and as he looks into my eyes he asks "What did you say Anna?" slightly confused.

  "I said I choose you," I repeat my words, a smile spreading across my lips. His eyes spark with a soft fire, the crimson coming to life in the dark.

  "Anna you must know by now that I'm different, not exactly human." He says with a sigh, pulling his fingers through his hair and tugging at it, easily getting frustrated with himself. I wait patiently for him to say what he needs to say. "Anna, I'm a vampire. I'm the vampire King." I just stare at him. I do not exactly get the point that he is trying to make. "You know the type of thing that goes bump in the night and drinks on blood." He suggests, trying to make me see some unknown point.

  "Victor, what does that matter?" I ask, getting slightly confused by what he is trying to tell me.

  "That doesn't bother you?" He asks, slightly confused himself. As if he being anything other than a human is wrong. It isn't wrong, I think, it's unusual but it doesn't change anything.

  "No, it doesn't bother me at all. I still choose you Victor, no matter what you are or what you've done." I say, letting the truth show in my voice. He is exultant in his joy, the soft spark of fire in his eyes burning brighter, until it is almost a physically light radiating from him.